Screw holding attachment for screw drivers



DCC- 2, 1952 H. E. NoFFslNGl-:R 2,620,000

SCREW HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR SCREW DRIVERS Filed Oct. 14. 1950 ,Wrap/vir Patented Dec. 2, 1952 SCREW HOLDING ATTACHMENFIi-.FQR

.'SCREW DRIVERS Jsrler-fers" ement -lClaiml 1 Y Ifhis invention relates 'to fa 'screw-holding at-- tachment :for screwl drivers, and has `for its fprincipal obj ect the, provision of AVa small, light-weight, simple; `and highly eflicient device 'which I- caribe slipped over 'a conventional driver shank without requiring vchanges inthe shank, vand which will flrmlyhold a screw of'anytype firmlylinengagement Awith `the lbit of the screwdriver 'so'th'at the screw may be inserted and "tightened with the use'ofbuta sing'lferhan'cl.

Another :object of Ithe inventioniisft-owso cnstruct Jthedevice-'that-it canbere'leased from the screw or l'from the -screw driver shank with ithe same hand `which was -usedy for tightening the screw-Jin other words,` to :provide a screw-holding attachment for screw drivers Iwhichcan lbe installed', renewed, 'and operated `Vin all o'f `its phases by one :hand v-so 4thatthe otherhand will berree'fonotherfuses; Y i y 'Gther-lobjecitscand advantages reside lin the de` tail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

.In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the .accompanying drawing which forms apart hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

Fig '1 isla 4sid-e view of a 4conventional screw driver, illustrating the `improvedV Ascrew-holding attachmentdsupportmg atypical 'screw thereon;

Fig. ,2 s 'asimilar view, illustrating the-position of the operators hand when releasing the device from the screw after the latter has been threaded partially into place;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, illustrating the attachment completely released from the screw. with the screw driver freed for the final tightening of the screw;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the improved screw-holding attachment. taken on the line 44. Fig. 5, in which the positions of a screw driver shank and screw are illustrated in broken line;

Fig. 5 is a front end view of the improved attachment; and

Figs. 6, 7. and 8 are cross-sections therethrough. taken on the lines 6 6, 'I-'I, and 8 8. respectively.

In the drawing, the shank of a conventional screw driver is indicated at I0, with its handle at I I and bit portion at I2. A typical screw is illustrated at I3. The attachment is designed to be (Cl. 14S-'150) A reiauveiy thick parution block Isisrfdrmeu;

in =the barrel .I4 .in spaced Arelation to the"ilan'g'e I5. 4A yscrew driver shank passage .|"I` extends axiallythrough.thehl-ock IIB. v y 'A Asliding plug [Suis rls'eliled in Vthe Open QX- tremity .of the 4baidrlel AT4 and -term-inateseii-I teriorly of the barrl'in an enlarged, linufrlei head I3.

The head I9 .is also provided wtha righ-t .angles `to the plug axis".` 4The longitudinal slid-ing l.mclwfement of the fplug .I8Lis`1li1r1'itedlby barrel I4 and extending'in'to an-QaXiaDyeIon'gated receivingslotlintheplug. I

4.A .compression spr' ges ,positioned between the partition 4'Block "I'6` and the -p`1ug`""|"3f The compression spring .actsagains't the plugA 'ffsindV against a plurality of clamping washers `2 4,f1tw"0". beingshown. vThecla'migzing washers are 'formed from relatively tilic'li, .hardened s't'ee-gprfesly. having a 'thickness oi approximately one-jslXl-"f teenth oian inch. "The clamping `Waalrersfare provided 'with' axial :openings "215 o'ifaA 'diameter sllghtlyin excess of the diameter dfthe expected' screw driver shank I0, and each is provided with an outwardly extending lever tongue 26 which projects through an opening 21 in the wall of the barrel I4.

In use, the attachment is slid over the extremity of the shank I0. The head of the screw I3 is placed in the cut-away 2-8 of the barrel.- with its threaded extremity extending through the central opening in the ange I5, and with the bottom of the screw head resting on the ange. The entire attachment is then pulled toward the handle I I to rmly set the bit portion I2 of the screw driver in th-e receiving slot of the screw I3.

As the holding attachment is forced toward the handle to grip the screw, the locking washers 24 will turn to a substantially right angle position with lrelation to the shank so that the latter can washers 24 will cause the tongues to act in the nature of tilting levers to tilt the washers to their gripping positions.

The screw is now inserted in place in the work and rotated until its head approaches the work surface. The operator now slides his hand forwardly along the screw driver shank I0 and forces the head I9 of the plug I8 forwardly with his thumb while gripping the shank I0 and handle II with the fingers, as shown in Fig. 2. This causes the flat inner end of the plug I8 to be forced against the washers 24 to swing them to the right angle or releasing position, which allows the entire attachment to move forwardly sufficiently to release the head of the screw I3.

The attachment is now removed from the screw, the head of the latter exiting through the cut-away 28 of the barrel. The entire attachment is then pulled back along the shank toward the handle to expose the bit portion I2 of the shank, as shown in Fig. 3, and the screw driver is reinserted to turn the screw to its final position.

When not desired for use, the entire attachment can be pushed from the shank by pressure on the head I9, or can be pulled back onto the shank to a position adjacent the handle II, Where it will automatically retain itself in place.

While the attachment has been described as moving forward to release the screw, there are times the attachment cannot move forward due to proximity of the work. In such cases the screw driver shank will, of course, move rearwardly to release the screw without movement of the attachment.

While the device has been described as applied to a straight bit screw driver, it could, of course, be used on a Phillips type screw driver or any other type, and would operate with equal efciency.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, s

within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the inventlon, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent A screw-holding attachment adapted to be positioned on the shank of a screw driver adjacent the bit extremity of the latter, comprising: a tubular barrel; an inwardly extending, C-shaped flange partially closing the outer extremity of said barrel to receive a screw; a partition block formed in said barrel adjacent the flanged extremity thereof, the side of said barrel being cut away between said block and said flange, said block having an axial passage for the shank of a screw driver; a tubular plug positioned in, projecting outwardly from, and closing the other extremity of said barrel, said plug being provided with a coaxial screw driver passage and being free to move longitudinally of both said shank and said barrel; means forA limiting the longitudinal movement of said plug in said barrel; a tiltable clamping washer positoned in said barrel between said block and said plug and having an axial opening at right angles to the plane of the washer for the passage of said screw driver shank, the inner extremity of said plug being at right angles to the axis thereof; a spring acting between said washer and said block and urging the former to a tilted gripping position on the shank, said plug being positioned so that its inner extremity will contact said washer when the plug is forced inwardly to swing the washer to the right angular released position; and an outwardly extending tongue formed on one edge of said washer and extending into a receiving opening in said barrel so that relative movement between said barrel and said washer will tilt said washer about said tongue to and from a position at right angles to said shank the length of said tongue being substantially equal to the thickness of said barrel.

HAROLD E. NOFFSINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

